Blog

Ep. 072 It’s Just a Game, Right?

Steelers 16 Bengals 13

OK. We lied. We said that there was no way the Steelers would make the playoffs this year. We said that we weren’t going to get invested in this game against the Bengals.

For a while, that was true. Until it became possible that the Steelers might LOSE and the Browns would WIN in an ironic, cruel twist of incompetency.

Then things started swinging our way. The Steelers took a tie into the 4th quarter and managed to scratch and claw its way to victory. Meanwhile, Bake Mayfield was leading an improbable come back charge in Baltimore. It came down to a 1st down and 10 yards at the Raven 39. All the Browns had to do was move the ball a paltry 4 yards to get into field goal position. Four downs later, the Ravens had the ball on an interception, claiming first place in the AFC North, and denying the Steelers a spot in the playoffs.

In this episode:

Steelers Beat Bengals

90’s style ugly win

Matt Mccrane saves day

Emotional letdown after two dramatic weeks

Defense strangles Bengals

The 2018 season from 30,000 feet

Largely unenjoyable season, outside of Juju

Games we should have won – continued losses to subpar teams

13-3 in 2017 – we won the close ones

Turnovers

Kicking woes

Penalties

GOING FORWARD – Positives

You can now prepare for life without Shazier and Bell

Make a splash in FA to bolster a completely returning roster

Fichtner generated big improvements in offense. Can this be done for the defense?

Emerging sophomores:Juju, Watt and Conner

WR room will be improved (no Eli torn ACL)

Steelers were HUMBLED. Now become the Hunter

GOING FORWARD – Negatives

Window is shrinking (fact) and you WASTED the golden opportunity of wide open AFC

We were healthy in 2018. Any untimely injuries can ruin the next season, and you’re out of mulligans